omprakashWe facilitaterelationships,dialogue &learningbetween socialchange agentsaround the world.

SPOILER: not a flashy solution,not a widget to end poverty,

not a buzzwordy facade,

not a neocolonial impulse,

not a voluntourist trap.

He isOmprakash.

Since 2004, we have been dedicatedto buildingmutually beneficial &educational relationships between

grassroots social impactorganizations

—a.k.a. our Partners—

and volunteers, donors &classrooms around the world who

can learn from& support their work.

In 2004, he inspired us to believe thatpositive social change begins withsimple human relationships.

TheChallenge:

'Voluntourism' is amulti-billion dollar industry,but it is ethically- andpedagogically-bankrupt,shaped by distorted incentives,ethnocentric assumptions,and limited emphasis on substantivelearning, reflection, and dialogue.

Annually,

voluntourism is

1.6million peoplespending

$2 billion USD

-Gap Years

-Service-Learning

-Volunteering Abroad

NPR 2014

-Int'l Service Trips

Analagous activities often not factored into those numbers:

ABrokenIndustry

In the dominantparadigm,middlemen sellexpensive'placements' orchaperoned tours —an inefficient &disempowering wayof matching needswith assets. Anoveremphasis is placed on 'making adifference' & 'changing the world.'

'

Students,universities, and

parents struggle togain or enable

'global experiences'in a way that is

ethical, affordable &academically robust.And social change

organizations in the'Global South' struggle to retain their

autonomy andmission coherence.

MisalignedStakeholders

Omprakash redefines this industrythrough a variety of channelsthat engage all of those stakeholders:

Our network ofcurated Partnersin 40+ countriesare real social

change orgs doingreal social change

work in theircommunities.

Omprakash EdGEis our state-of-the-art, mobile-readyonline learningplatform for

custom curricula,mentorship &

critical dialogue.

Global Dialogueis a professional

forum for global devand social changestakeholders.

The Blog is an openmic for voices

across the network.

Crowdfunding viaOmprakash allowsour Partners and

EdGE volunteers toraise money and

raise consciousnessamong a globaldonor base.

Our vetted Partners maintain their own profiles on our site, and anybody can apply for their positions.We do not 'place' people. Partners autonomously decide which applicants to accept. The result = healthy

relationships grounded in real dialogue rather than in a middleman's quest to sell 'placements.'

Profile of an Omprakash Partner:

PrayasamKolkata, India

Founded: 1996JoinedOmprakash: 2012

Average Daily Cost: $22.50Raised throughOmprakash: $105,138EdGE volunteers hosted since 2013: 4

Mission:To organise and develop the children of slum

areas as empowered change agents byforming groups and sustainable advocacy on

health education, environment andlivelihoodwithin their community.

Amlan GangulyPrayasam Founder &Director

Prayasam strongly believes thatsuccess is ultimately aboutconnection, not perfection.Omprakash has helped us toconnect and amplify our VOICESto various friends andsupporters.— Amlan

"

EdGEEducation through Global Engagement

we launched EdGE to provide robusttraining, mentorship, and critical consciousness

to those wanting to serve across gaps of culture & powerwithin the Omprakash network of international Partner organizations.

EdGE fulfills this vision and much more as anaward-winning and highly customizable online learning platformfor over a dozen programs working within and beyond the Omprakash network.

omprakash

In 2012,

Today,

The EdGE online platform supports student learning before, during, and after their internationalexperiences. Universities and other providers can customize EdGE for their own student cohorts,

or individuals can enroll directly in a public Omprakash EdGE cohort.

EdGE students choose a mentor from within the Omprakash team to receive ongoing feedback andsupport before, during and after their field position. Our mentorship team is comprised of a diverse group of

young professionals with a vast array of experience in fields related to int'l development.

Wehave 50+ EdGEMentors.Here are 4 :

Alexis Kallen

Rhodes Scholar

Stanford's 127thConvocation Speaker

Researches accessibility inthe registration process inGreek refugee camps

Marc Anthony Branch

Served in Peace Corps(Peru) for 4 years

Emory University Master's inDevelopment Practice ('19)

Studied social movementsand human rights in

Argentina

Tyrell Kahan

USAID Fellow in Bureaufor Food Security

Doctor ofVeterinary Medicine

Emory University Master'sin Development Practice

('16)

Mélissa Godin

Rhodes Scholar

National GeographicExplorer

Multi-media journalist andGroundTruth Project Fellow

The EdGE Logistics section provides a customizable list of tasks for students to complete beforedeparting for field positions. Common tasks in the list include uploading a copy of one's passport and visa,

entering flight and preventative health information, completing surveys, and more.

An EdGE classroom provides rich content and space for dialogue between students, mentors, andadmins. Our standard pre-departure curriculum is a twelve-week introduction to the history, ethics, and

economics of international development, and we offer custom content for different cohorts.

The EdGE Roundtable is the classroom's forum, providing a space for students and mentors tobrowse and engage with each other's end-of-unit responses. Unlike most online-learning platforms, EdGE is

purpose-built to facilitate authentic user-to-user exchange, rather than uni-directional content delivery.

The EdGE Mentee Manager allows program mentors and admins to track student participation,logistics, field position planning, performance evaluations, and more.

An EdGE student'sprofile showcasestheir work for friends,family, & the generalpublic. Omprakashoffers blogging and

crowdfunding tools toall EdGE students, and

student profilesaggregate all blogposts and activecrowdfundingcampaigns.

EdGE students areable to

crowdfund via'Partner campaigns' in

which 100% of themoney is earmarked

for their host; or'Personal Campaigns'

in which 5% isearmarked for theirhost and 95% for thestudent's approved

trip-related expenses.Omprakash Partners

are also able tocrowdfund forthemselves.

Blogging viaOmprakash givesEdGE students a

beautiful platform forsharing text, photos,video, audio, quotes,and embedded files.The pre-departurecourse includes anintro to qualitativeresearch methods

which enable studentsto build a 'Record ofPerspectives' — a

collection of blogs thatfeature myriad voices

& are the buildingblocks of EdGE

Capstone Projects.

Case Study:Global Scholars @ Florida State

Fall: FSU chooses their "Global Scholars" cohort. Many low-income and first-generation college students are able to takepart due to our low-cost model and financial aid.

Winter: The cohort gets enrolled in EdGE. Studentsindependently research our Partners and apply to their favorites.Over the course of several weeks, they dialogue with ourPartners and confirm field positions in the network.

Spring: Students engage in our one-of-a-kind EdGE onlineclassroom, learning from each other and their EdGEMentors.Students begin developing ideas for their Capstone Projects.

Summer: Students spend at least 2months at their fieldposition. They use theOmprakash platform to blog and postCapstone Project updates.

Fall: Students return to campus and join a post-trip EdGEclassroom to reflect and workshop Capstones before finalsubmission and dissemination of Capstone Projects.

Inam SakinahFSU '18

The insights EdGE offered,but more importantly, the questionsit asked, for so many of us, openedlife-altering doors of reflection,dialogue, and action. To me, these

doors represent just how formativeand transformative the

experience has been from the veryfirst week of EdGE to now.

"

Case Study:Bailey Scholars @UIUC

Madisen HockettUIUC '20

"

The best part of my overall EdGE experience was the curriculum andthe mentorship. The curriculum was incredibly thought out, which I felt preparedme to go abroad as a trained volunteer rather than just a student. The mentorshipopportunity provided me with support throughout the curriculum and with an allythat I can utilize throughout my time abroad, and hopefully further in the future.

"

Vanessa CahillUIUC '22

Every unit taught me something. I never would have thought about somethings this course brought up, and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to

take this course knowing I would like to travel a lot of my life. I will use thisinformation for the rest of my life no matter where I travel to, and I think everyoneshould take a course like this because it really opens up your mind about the world.

In this collaborationwith UIUC, EdGE

increases students'learning, impact,and accountability

within an externallyfunded university-

based grant programaimed at promotingservice and action.

Case Study:Global Service Fellows@ Stanford

Isabela BumanlagStanford '19

"

My mentor Melissa was incredibly accessibleand had so much to offer from her own work,

which I greatly appreciated.

Based out of the Haas Center for Public Service

15-20 students engage in the EdGE curriculumduring spring quarter (receiving 1-unit ofcredit)

Students work 1-on-1 with an EdGE Mentor

Students have the option of finding a serviceposition inside or outside of the Omprakashnetwork during the summer for 9+ weeks

"

The classroom I've found to be enormouslyenlightening. This classroom does a wonderful

job of forcing its students to engage withquestions of enormous importance that theywould not deal with in any other context.

Rodolfo Isaac ArochaStanford '21

Some of the universities currently runningaccredited EdGE-based programswith us:

Wealso host conferencesfor our Partners, on their turf.

Omprakash in Press

It's such anincredibleresource for

organizations and forindividual volunteers.

Firstly, Omprakash is aboutfostering educational

experiences.-College

Uncensored

"

Omprakashomprakash.org

Contact:Willy Oppenheim, Ph.D

Founder &Director

willy@omprakash.org+1-203-554-0350

Omprakash is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organizationTax ID# 20-8655418